
PART 3 ARTICLE 4 AUDIO FILE IN FOOTER ♫
Why bother to heal a country, seemingly irreparably damaged?
Where does one possibly begin?
One person, one issue at a time.
Healthcare has been getting worse year by year. I couldn’t bear it 10 years ago when I retired and had been tortured by the obscene insurance debacle for twenty years before that. I was a pariah to hospital and insurance administrators, but I continued to practice medicine as I saw fit, fighting every step of the way. Though I was not popular with the powers that be, I could look at myself in the mirror at the end of the day. I retired when I did, as it became clear that my days as a competent, caring, thorough physician were numbered. Selling out to greedy, malevolent power structures by becoming less of a doctor was never an option.
I loathe the actions of the murderer of the CEO of United Healthcare, as hatred and violence are never, ever acceptable. However, it is imperative that we all look very closely at how we have gotten here and come together as to how to solve it.
The causes of this debacle are so vast and overwhelming that we all feel completely powerless to do anything about it, and it continues unabated. It would be easy to believe that evil, greedy Healthcare Insurance Companies are solely responsible, but without looking at the political structure that has allowed them to get away with it, we, along with Luigi Mangione, are missing the big picture.
I just learned that there are more lobbyists for Healthcare Insurance Companies than for any other issue, including defense. Needless to say, lobbyists are not fighting for their love of humanity. Politicians are being well-rewarded to maintain the current ugly status quo and not solve the healthcare debacle — a solution that would be possible if caring for humanity could ever supersede rapacious greed.
Once again, we, the people, are fighting one another, shooting CEOs, and getting angry at Healthcare Corporations ( that one is well deserved!) while letting politicians get away, quite literally, with murder. Once again, the evil policy of division keeps the politicians unscathed while we ALL suffer.
The prevailing political elite has told us,
“Don’t let them take away your private health insurance! “
“Don’t give healthcare to everyone; that is evil socialism!”
“Don’t ever give anything to anyone who doesn’t deserve it, like you do!’
“Healthcare for all is too expensive, and you will pay for it personally!”
“Your taxes will go up.”
“People from countries with national health insurance hate it! They have to wait to see doctors, have procedures, etc.”
On that, we must reflect.
Private health insurance, how is that working out for you? It’s fine if you are young and healthy, but once you start having health issues, things get very dark very quickly, and you’re screwed.

Oh yeah, socialism. Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, children’s health programs…are you ready to give them up? These are social programs, but not socialism, which is something very different; look it up.
Healthcare for all, even people other than yourself? This should be a no-brainer from a humanistic, moral, or even Christian (the Jesus kind, not the religious kind) perspective.
Too expensive? People pay 16,000.00 or more annually for private insurance, often even with employer assistance. This does not count copays and prescriptions. This does not consider all the services that insurance refuses to pay.
Will taxes go up? It would go a long way if all you currently pay for your healthcare were put into a national healthcare program rather than private companies. Not to mention the trillions of dollars of savings from no longer paying for the administration of hundreds of private health insurance companies, including hundreds of millions for their CEOs.
I have traveled over much of the world. I always ask for opinions about their national healthcare. EVERYONE I have ever spoken to absolutely loves it! The United States is the ONLY high-income developed country with no national health insurance. Furthermore, the U.S. also has the world’s highest healthcare spending figure per capita.

Finally, how long must you wait to see a specialist or get a procedure? I am waiting 5 months to see a pulmonary doctor, and I am already one of his patients. This problem is getting worse every day. Unless you are ill, you may think everything is just hunky dory. THINK AGAIN.
The fact that this is a political issue is the real problem. By keeping us frightened, divided and fighting one another, we are missing the opportunity to really examine what is happening to us. If we, the people, all of the people, don’t start working together to dismiss politicians and corporations who will never work in our best interests, problems will never be solved.
We must all seriously look at what is happening at this juncture. I sincerely encourage comments and ideas from those who agree with me and those who do not. Unless we achieve common ground, with the participation of all, we are truly screwed.